Why I Oughta...

Was packing up the Christmas train and found this Schlitz Beer Lionel Trains billboard in one of the tubs. "Taste the Gusto life."  With a 1974 copyright date.  From....get this:  "Milwaukee and the world."  (Love that.)  

Almost nine years ago, I posted a photo of a beautiful Schlitz Beer lamp from Blueberry Hill down near Washington University in St. Louis.  That photo is here .  We recently went back to St. Louis and toured Nat's old stomping grounds including lunch at Blueberry Hill, of course.  I was immediately struck with the vintage Schlitz lamps once again. The photo above you see is from this recent trip and the lamps are the same nine years later.  (But...the quality of low-light photography from my phone is CLEARLY way, way better, right??) Blueberry Hill actually has a post on their own site that talks about these lamps .  Turns out, there are ten of them  and they were made in the year before the restaurant opened: It’s hard not to notice the classic Schlitz lamps illuminating our Dining Room-Blueberry Hill’s ambiance certainly would not be the same without the ten vintage lamps adorning our wooden booths. ...These vintage pieces are straight from 19...

Last week, I posted about our trip to the MAGA Antique Mall up in Lake Geneva and how we came across those vintage "Made in Japan" Poinsettia candle holders that we passed on .  Before we were asked to leave by the MAGA guy who runs the place (because...gasp! the boy was playing with some vintage toys!), I spotted this Schlitz glass mug.  They were asking $6 and this thing was H - E - A - V - Y! I've posted a lot over the years about vintage Schlitz stuff , but this mug is a dead ringer for the big Schlitz pitcher that we bought at a flea market last summer .  Seriously... click here for just a second.  And look at the bottom of that pitcher and the bottom of this glass.  Then look at the logo with the thin maroon line around the box.  And the white "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous" font/mark.   This was totally released at the same time as that pitcher, right?  Had to be part of a set?  Like a tavern would place that pitcher o...

Over the weekend, we went out to Wheaton to attend the Great Midwest Train Show with my Dad for our annual visit.  We go every December to look through the tables and I get a big shot of nostalgia as I recall the trips to the train show that I took with my Dad when I was just a little one.  We always come home with some nice loot from the vendors and this year is no different.  Above you can see a Lionel billboard with a Schlitz Beer card inside of it with the 1974 date on the bottom.  Just $1, too, which makes it all the more sweeter.  We scored a few other items that I'll post here on the blog this week, but this billboard is my favorite item. We haven't had time to set up the Mantleburg line this year (shameful, I know), but when we do, this will go perfectly trackside next to some of the other accessories.  I also posted about some animated billboards that I picked up earlier this year here on the blog , but I don't remember if I bought one for ...

Last week, I posted about our experience at the Elkhart Antique and Flea Market up in Wisconsin and how we scored a few items including a chandelier for our #newoldfarmhouse .  One of the other items I picked up was this beauty of a glass pitcher from Schlitz.  It has "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous" written in a cute script and was a steal at just $5.00.  We were walking out and I was carrying - gingerly - the light fixture that Nat had scored in a box and it was awkward.  So, about every 100 yards or so, I had to put it down and re-adjust my hands on it. One of those stops happened to be in front of a booth where the guy was packing up.  He had this pitcher on the table.  I picked it up, turned it around and looked at the price.  $15.  I set it back down and said.... "nice pitcher".  But it was too much for me.  The guy practically begged me to buy it.  He said it was a rough day for him and that he'd take anything for i...

Came across this Schlitz stein recently and thought the graphics and slogan "World's Finest Draught Beer" were pretty cool.  It is pretty narrow, so doesn't hold a big volume.   This doesn't carry the tagline of "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous", so perhaps this was either before/after that in their brand campaign heritage? Alas, you can add this to the pile of Schlitz 'found' vintage items that I've passed on.   Here's a pitcher .   Here's a set of coozies . If I would have picked them all up, I'd have quite the Schlitz barware collection.    Now that we have a *plan* for our house situation, maybe I can start to dream about a vintage basement bar.  Thinking...a tiki theme, right?

As you can see, they were asking $12.50 for this beauty of a beer pitcher from Schlitz.  The slogan at the bottom reads - as you know - "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous".  We don't have a house, let alone a place to put big glass pitchers like this, but if it is still around when we go back, I think I might grab this to start our barware collection that could reside in a potential butler's pantry.

At the Antiques Mall out in Naperville, I came across this sealed six pack of vintage Schlitz koozies.  They wanted like $20 for the set, so I passed as it was too rich for me.  There's got to be somebody out there that would die to have these and I'm hoping they'll find their right place at some point.  They're Styrofoam, so I don't know how sturdy/long-lasting these will be? But, it seems like they deserve to be used and not just sit on a shelf.  Nothing better than camouflaging that ratty Bud Light can you're drinking than behind this 70's era beauty.

Earlier in the year, Nat and I spent time at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis near Wash U (Nat's alma mater).  In each of the booths (on the bar side, by the dart room), hung one of these beauties. There must be 10 of them on one wall - all with glass shades.  They're certainly not reproductions, but it is a wonder how they could have kept these in such pristine condition throughout the years.  Nat tells me that "Blue Hill" was a Wash U hangout, so they must not have been as rowdy a crowd as the one I spent many a night with at Kam's.  Guess that's what happens when you're school is ranked 12th in the nation.

Via my brother-in-law Peter , comes this pretty rad advertisement for Schlitz Beer. More here .